Why your community needs a mission

People have a natural tendency to belong to a group and enjoy connecting with other people. This is the basis of a community. Do you have a community and want to make it bigger? Or are you planning to start a virtual community in the future? Then it is important to have a community mission statement.

Having a clear understanding of your community mission is important for 3 target groups: your internal organisation, communication management, and the participants themselves. It also helps to determine when the community is successful and how you can precisely measure that success. It involves questions like:

What is the purpose of your community?
How does your community benefit your organisation?
How do you make your community indispensable?

Identity is the basis for the community mission

You need to be clear about what your community is all about because you need that to take subsequent steps. And that all begins with the identity of your community. This identity gives meaning to your community and makes it clear to all stakeholders who you are and what you represent.

Your community’s identity is made up of several elements:

The purpose of your community
Member identity
The organisation’s values, its definition of success, and the brand
An authentic culture

The importance of a mission for an online community

People need a good reason to join your community. The viability of a community is therefore largely determined by its mission. Let us illustrate this with an example.

Imagine you are setting up a community for GPs. This fact alone does not make a community viable. For that, you really do need a common mission. For instance, a mission for this (online) community could be to share the latest medical insights with one another. But the community’s mission could also be to show the widest possible audience how strenuous the workload is in general practices. In other words: two completely different missions.

How do you create an effective mission statement for an online community?

Describe a mission effectively and clearly. After all, everyone needs to understand the shared mission. Below, we offer some practical tips that will help you clarify your community’s mission and identify its added value. If you apply these tips, chances are you will create an effective mission statement.

1. Keep it short and simple

When creating a mission statement, many project groups tend to make it unnecessarily complicated. This has two drawbacks. Firstly, it is more complicated to implement such a mission. Secondly, a complicated mission is more difficult for community members to understand. Thus, the mission statement misses its objective.

So, our tip is to keep the mission statement short and simple. A few sentences to describe the mission are more than enough. Moreover, do not use vague terms or jargon. Besides, a simply described mission is also easier to remember. Regard it as a slogan.

Finding it difficult? Then try these creative writing exercises:

Have the members of the project group write a testimonial by a fictitious community participant. You will then gradually make the point you wanted to by working backwards.
Have members of the project group write a press release on the success of the community in three years’ time. Here you start with the end result and this exercise helps you to focus on what you want to achieve.

2. Engage the community

Of course, you can choose to come up with a mission statement on your own, but how do you know if the community members approve of it? To avoid this problem, we recommend that you get the community involved when determining your mission. There are various ways to do this:

For example, give your members several potential mission statements to choose from. Those who respond will select the most appropriate mission.
Or leave it entirely up to the community. You, as the person in charge, will only have to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.

3. Be unique

Almost everyone is active on the internet these days and for that reason, there are also a lot of virtual communities. That is why it is necessary to have a unique mission. Otherwise, people will have no desire to join your community.

So, first, take a good look at the mission statements of other online communities. Take note of the common clichés and create a unique and practical mission.

4. Remember to also focus on the future

When creating a mission statement, it is also important to focus on the long term. While a mission should be concrete, it should not be so specific that it is quickly irrelevant.

Let’s go back to the GP community example for a moment. Imagine that the mission of the GP community is to make GPs familiar with a specific new treatment method. After achieving this goal, the relevance of the community disappears. When creating the mission, therefore, focus on the long run.

5. Get inspired

Are you lacking creativity at moment? No worries, because you can get inspiration from the missions of other online communities. We recommend you look at successful online communities.

Try to find out what their mission is. This way, you will not only learn about mission content choices but also what tone works well and approximately how long the mission statement should be. If you understand Dutch, you could take a look at the communities of KNVB, TVVL or MBO Connect (also made with Yunits software).

6. Also develop a vision

Besides a mission, you can also choose to develop a community vision. This reinforces the mission. Often, a vision also makes the mission clearer. But what is the difference between a mission and a vision?

The mission represents the justification of an online community, but at the same time, it also describes the activities that are currently going on. A vision describes the future of an online community. It is the dot on the horizon. However, the two can be combined and many online communities do just that.

Need help drafting your community mission statement?

Do you want to know more about how to set up a mission and vision for your community? Or would you like to brainstorm on the opportunities and possibilities for your (online) community? Then feel free to contact us. We will be happy to provide input.